Learning Guide to The Sandlot
Subjects: Baseball; U.S. 1962; Health
Note to teachers: The Sandlot may appear on the surface to be a light weight comedy, but the film provokes an empathic reaction in virtually all viewers and can be of use in addressing the values and feelings young people experience during times of change in their lives.
Social-Emotional Learning: Friendship; Patience; Step-Parenting; Maturation;
Moral-Ethical Emphasis: Tolerance; Fair play;
Age: 7+; MPAA Rating, PG; Comedy, Drama; 1993; 101 Minutes; Color; Available from Amazon.com
Description: Told through the recollections of a boy, nicknamed "Smalls," who moves into a new neighborhood and seeks to find friends, The Sandlot opens to a summer of baseball, friendship and growing-up as the best player on the local team, Benny, takes Smalls into his circle and shares with him the adventures of a mad, ball-eating dog behind the homerun fence. The story shows how relationships develop, including the one faced by Smalls who must adjust to a stepfather as well as his status as a new kid with no athletic skills. Smalls does not know how to throw, hit or even wear a baseball hat.
Benefits of the Movie: Children of virtually all ages can identify with the difficulties addressed in the film and learn valuable lessons about how to treat newcomers, how to adjust to change, as well as the power of friendship.
Parenting Points: It is best not to interfere with the flow of the film as your child watches, but you may want to comment on the problems associated with chewing tobacco or provide information about Babe “The Bambino” Ruth.
Director: David Mickey Evans.
Featured Actors: Tom Guiry, Mike Vitar, Denis Leary,James Earl Jones.
Helpful Background:George Herman Ruth, known universally as Babe Ruth, remains an iconic sports figure long after he left the game that he had popularized virtually alone. His charismatic personality, coupled with his ability to hit home runs, changed baseball forever when he played with the New York Yankees and helped them win seven pennants and four World Series. In 1927 he hit 60 home runs, a record that remained unbroken until 1961. Ruth was also called “The Bambino’ but the nickname Babe, stayed with him long after he retired and died of cancer in 1948. In the minds of sports fans, not just fans of baseball, Ruth ranks with Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordon as all time greats in their games.
Instructions to Teachers: Play the film an uninterrupted as time allows. At the end of the film ask the following discussion questions and have the students respond to episodes in writing. Prompts follow the discussion questions.
1. Smalls mother pushes him to find friends out of doors, even though he is not especially interested in sports. What kind of pressure does this put on Smalls and what is revealed in his character by his efforts to meet new friends on the baseball field?
Suggested Response: Smalls does not want to disappoint his mother and even though he knows he will be embarrassed on the baseball diamond, he pushes himself forward. This shows respect for his mother, resilience and the ability to take the kinds of insults the boys hurl at him.
2. How is baseball tied into Small’s efforts to establish a relationship with his stepfather?
Suggested Response:Small’s mother encouraged her son and his new father to practice throwing and catching together, but there was clearly no enthusiasm in this relationship. Small’s father owned a prized baseball that had been signed by Babe Ruth and everything grew complicated when Smalls used the prized baseball during a game. Ultimatly Benny and the other boys were more important in Small’s life than his family.
3. What seems to motivate Benny in his efforts to include Small’s in the games?
Suggested Response: Benny simply seemed to like Smalls—and he could always use an outfielder for the ball games, which were a vehicle for Benny to practice his skills. With Smalls, the team had nine players. Benny behaved with respect and fair play toward every boy on the team. He showed patience and generosity.Benny is one of those rare persons whose maturity easily translates into leadership.
4. The imaginative and creative side of young boys can be seen in three episodes in the film. What is imaginative and creative in the scene involving the swimming pool, the sleep-over and the efforts to get the ball from the dog known as “The Beast.”
Suggested Response: In the swimming pool scene, one boy fakes drowning in order to get attention from the beautiful lifeguard. At the sleepover the tall tale of the Beast is recited and the story serves to hold the boys together. There are several attempts to retrieve the baseball, involving contraptionsmade from scraps of tin, a vacuum cleaner and devices using ropes to lower Smalls into the yard.
5. What ironies can be found in the way the film ends?
Suggested response: The boys learn that the Beast is not a mean dog after all and that his owner, Mr. Mertle, used to play baseball in the Negro Leagues and had been a friend of Babe Ruth.Although Mr. Mertle was blinded by a stray pitch back when he played, he was able to see into the problems Smalls faced with his father. He offers the solution to the problem by giving Smalls his “Murder’s Row” ball, signed by the best Yankee players in the team’s prime. In exchange the boys will visit with the old man and talk baseball. At the end of the film, Benny is a star baseball player and although Smalls never became a good player, he learned enough in his days in the sandlot to establish a fine career.
Assignments:
1. Write about a time when you pushed yourself to try something new, as did Smalls when he went to the Sandlot. Be sure to include what you learned from the experience.
2. Look up information about Babe Ruth and make a presentation to the class that includes all of the changes in baseball statistics and players and teams since the days when The Bambino charmed the public with his ability to hit home runs.
3. Write about a friend you have known that behaved toward you as Benny behaved toward Smalls. How did this friend help you adjust to something new. What kinds of fun activities did you enjoy together.
4. Write about which sport, or physical activity such as dance, brings out the best in you. Describe your role in the sport.
5. Try to remember a time when you and friends or siblings got creative and made up stories or games or built something special. Be sure to use details so that your reader will be able to see and feel what is going on in your story.